Aerospace & Defense

Arlington Capital Partners Announces the Sale of Chandler/May, Inc. to Lockheed Martin

WASHINGTON, DC, November 13, 2012 — Arlington Capital Partners (www.arlingtoncap.com), a Washington, DC based private equity firm, today announced the sale of its portfolio company Chandler/May, Inc. (“CMI”) to Lockheed Martin, the world’s largest defense firm.

Headquartered in Huntsville, Alabama, CMI is a leading provider of fully integrated, mission critical systems to the Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) industry primarily through the production of ground control stations, unmanned aerial vehicles, and mission control software. The Company occupies a critical strategic position within the UAS sector and is one of the largest private providers of turn-key production UAS. Arlington Capital completed its initial platform investment in CMI in 2005.

“We are very pleased to have had the opportunity to partner with President and Co-Founder Jesse May and Vice President and Co-Founder Jay Chandler to build a platform of significant scale in the rapidly growing UAS industry,” said Peter Manos, a Managing Partner at Arlington Capital Partners. “Arlington Capital proactively targeted the UAS industry as an area for investment, and we are pleased that our thesis was validated by CMI’s consistently strong organic growth and the Company’s evolution into a full turn-key provider with unmatched capabilities in both ground control stations and unmanned air vehicles.”

Matt Altman, a Partner at Arlington Capital, said, “During the course of our ownership, CMI expanded its market leadership position in ground control stations through new wins in next-generation platforms and developed an air vehicle platform for several emerging UAS programs supporting U.S. government, special operations and special mission customers. We are proud of the tremendous success achieved by the CMI team and we look forward to their continued future success as a part of Lockheed Martin.”

Jesse May, CMI’s President, said, “Our partnership with Arlington Capital over the last seven years enabled our company to increase its revenue base by over 300% and we thank the entire Arlington team for their invaluable contributions. Having constant access to Arlington’s deep relationships and industry domain knowledge proved to be a competitive differentiator for us, and Arlington’s overall strategic leadership helped transform CMI into the UAS market leader it is today.” Jay Chandler, CMI’s Vice President, added, “The growth prospects for our business continue to be very strong, and joining Lockheed Martin provides us with the ideal platform to continue delivering our ever-expanding portfolio of innovative products to defense and intelligence customers.”

About Arlington Capital Partners
Arlington Capital Partners is a Washington, D.C.-based private equity firm with $1.5 billion of committed capital focused on middle market investment opportunities in growth industries including: aerospace/defense, government contracting, healthcare services, education, training, and business services. The firm’s professionals and network have a unique combination of operating and private equity experience that enables Arlington to be a value-added investor. Arlington invests in companies in partnership with high quality management teams that are motivated to establish and/or advance their company’s position as leading competitors in their field. www.arlingtoncap.com

About Lockheed Martin
Headquartered in Bethesda, Md., Lockheed Martin is a global security and aerospace company that employs about 120,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration and sustainment of advanced technology systems, products and services. The corporation’s net sales for 2011 were $46.5 billion. About

Chandler/May, Inc.
Chandler/May, Inc. (“CMI”) is a leading provider of fully integrated, mission critical systems to the Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) industry primarily through the production of ground control stations, unmanned aerial vehicles, and UAS mission and flight control software. The Company occupies a critical strategic position within the UAS sector and is one of the largest private providers of turn-key production UAS. The Company is headquartered in Huntsville, Alabama and also operates a facility in San Luis Obispo, California.

Contact:
Peter Manos or Matt Altman
Arlington Capital Partners
5425 Wisconsin Avenue, Suite 200
Chevy Chase, MD 20815
202-337-7500
202-337-7525 (fax)

SOURCE: Arlington Capital Partners